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Angels score three in ninth to stun Blue Jays

By
Gregor Chisholm and Maria GuardadoMLB.com

TORONTO -- Ben Revere came up with the clutch hit and used his speed to get some revenge against his former team to steal a victory away from the Blue Jays.

Revere delivered the big blow off Toronto closer Roberto Osuna with an RBI double in the Angels' three-run ninth inning in a 6-5 win. He then scored on a shallow fly ball to center field that would not have been deep enough for most baserunners but was more than enough for the speedy Revere.

TORONTO -- Ben Revere came up with the clutch hit and used his speed to get some revenge against his former team to steal a victory away from the Blue Jays.

Revere delivered the big blow off Toronto closer Roberto Osuna with an RBI double in the Angels' three-run ninth inning in a 6-5 win. He then scored on a shallow fly ball to center field that would not have been deep enough for most baserunners but was more than enough for the speedy Revere.

"We played hard," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "Not too many times you're going to get to Osuna, and we were fortunate enough to do it this afternoon."

Osuna entered this game having successfully converted 25 of his last 26 save opportunities but he got into trouble almost right away on Saturday afternoon. With one out, Kole Calhoun singled and Martin Maldonado was hit by a pitch to put a pair of runners on base. Revere doubled home a run and then advanced to third on a wild pitch by Osuna.

That set the scene for a high popup off the bat of infielder Cliff Pennington. Blue Jays center fielder Kevin Pillar tracked the ball down and made a running throw from shallow center but it was not quick enough to get Revere, who tagged from third and dove in headfirst to score the winning run against the team he went to the American League Championship Series with in 2015.

"Osuna, it was one of those days, we haven't seen that too often," Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. "Move on. Chalk that one up. A couple of our old teammates hurt us today. Revere and Penny there at the end with the sac fly. That's an oddity. Just happens."

The ninth-inning collapse cost Francisco Liriano a victory in what might have been his final start for the Blue Jays. Toronto has been shopping its pending free agents in advance of Monday's Deadline and Liriano is a prime candidate to be on the move. If that's the case he made a strong final impression by limiting the Angels to three runs on five hits while striking out five.

The victory pulled the Angels to within five games of Kansas City for the second American League Wild Card. Toronto's loss temporarily dropped the club to 7 1/2 games back of that second AL Wild Card pending the result of Kansas City's game vs. Boston on Saturday night.

MOMENTS THAT MATTEREDMiggy's moment:Miguel Montero's first home run as a Blue Jay broke a 3-3 tie in the sixth. According to Statcast™, Montero's fifth homer of the season was projected to travel 421 feet and left his bat at 105 mph. The two-run blast to right-center field came off right-hander Troy Scribner, who was making his MLB debut, and marked just the third hit that Montero has had since joining Toronto at the start of July.

"It definitely felt good, especially at that time after they had just scored three runs to tie the game," Montero said. "It feels even better when you give the starter the lead, he was doing a good job. It's nice to get [the first Blue Jays homer] out of the way, but at the end of the day a loss is a loss and it hurts."

"Because I've given up a ton of home runs in my life, I know exactly what it looks like and what it feels like," said Scribner, who earned his first win after allowing two runs over three innings. "I threw what I thought was a decent pitch. He hit it over the fence. It happens."

Liriano's letdown: Liriano faced just one batter over the minimum through the first five innings, but his outing hit a roadblock in the sixth. Los Angeles began stringing some hits together as Shane Robinson, Yunel Escobar and Mike Trout all singled to bring home the Angels' first run. The big blow came later in the inning when Andrelton Simmons hit a two-run single to center field that momentarily tied the game at 3. Simmons' hit came on an 0-2 slider that caught far too much of the plate considering the lefty was ahead in the count.

"I felt good today," said Liriano, who has allowed three earned runs or less in four of his last five starts. "I felt like my fastball was working well. My location was great today. I made a couple of mistakes here and there but I felt like I pitched pretty well."

SOUND SMART WITH YOUR FRIENDSJustin Smoak went 2-for-4 with a pair of singles and now has 107 hits this season, which is one away from his career high. Smoak is batting .339 (19-for-56) with two doubles and six homers since the All-Star break and has reached base in 14 consecutive games with a .500 on-base percentage over that same span.

PUJOLS STRUGGLINGAngels slugger Albert Pujols drew a walk in the sixth inning, but he saw his hitless streak grow to 24 at-bats, two shy of his career-worst skid.

"He hit a bullet to center [in the first inning]," Scioscia said. "Seems like he's just missing some pitches, but he feels strong. He feels like he's starting to put better swings on the ball, and I think we can see some of that."

WHAT'S NEXTAngels: The Angels will send right-hander Jesse Chavez to the mound on Sunday afternoon as they close out their three-game series with the Blue Jays at 10:07 a.m. PT at Rogers Centre. Chavez, a former Blue Jay, is coming off his worst outing of the season after surrendering seven runs over 2 1/3 innings against the Indians on Tuesday.

Blue Jays: Right-hander Cesar Valdez (1-0, 4.97) will take the mound for Toronto when this series wraps up on Sunday afternoon with first pitch scheduled for 1:07 p.m. ET. Valdez earned a spot in the rotation after Aaron Sanchez was placed on the disabled list and in his first start he allowed just one run over six innings vs. Oakland.